With deformations or degenerative changes of the vertebral column, it may be necessary to stabilize the individually affected unstable vertebral column segment by means of surgery.
In this respect, the stiffening of the affected vertebral column segment is known. With such a partial vertebral column stiffening, the intervertebral discs are at least partially removed; bony tissues are embedded between the vertebrae to be stiffened; and the vertebrae to be stiffened are connected rigidly with one another with screws and at least one rod. The stiffening of the vertebral column segment, however, makes the adjacent vertebrae more stressed with bending and stretching movements of the vertebral column than before the stiffening.
Alternatively, “with easier cases,” especially before an intervertebral disc incident also appears, an implant has been more recently used which supports the affected vertebral column segment posteriorly but does not stiffen, and thus to a large extent maintains the mobility of the affected vertebrae. An elastic band with pliable spacers is thereby used between screws fastened on the vertebrae. The elastic band limits the bending movement, whereas the spacers limit the stretching movement.
The problem of the invention is to create a device of the type mentioned initially, which is designed so as to stiffen an unstable vertebral column segment in such a way that the vertebral column is stressed as little as possible with bending and stretching movements, in particular, in order to prevent further operations or at least to delay them as much as possible.